Municipal elections were held in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
on 18 May 2011, electing new councils for all
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the country. Municipal elections are held every five years, and the previous municipal elections were held in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
. The first municipal elections following the reorganisation of municipalities took place in December 2000.
Half of the seats (rounded up for odd numbers) in each municipality are elected on the
first past the post system
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
in single member
wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
. The other half of the seats are allocated to restore proportionality as follows:
The total number of seats are allocated using the
largest remainder method
The largest remainder method (also known as Hare–Niemeyer method, Hamilton method or as Vinton's method) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. It contrasts with various h ...
by using a modified
Hare quota
The Hare quota (also known as the simple quota) is a formula used under some forms of proportional representation. In these voting systems the quota is the number of votes that guarantees a candidate, or a party in some cases, captures a seat. Th ...
. Proportional seats are allocated based on the difference.
Overhang seat
Overhang seats are constituency seats won in an election under the traditional mixed member proportional (MMP) system (as it originated in Germany), when a party's share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of ...
s are theoretically possible. These do not affect the quota but will reduce the number of remainder seats if any. Independent candidates are allowed for in the ward seats, and the proportionality calculations effectively ignore votes for these candidates and are adjusted for seats allocated to them.
Background
The ruling party of South Africa, the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
(ANC), has been facing a growing opposition from the
Democratic Alliance (DA). The DA holds control of the Western Cape area, with
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
the major city of the province. The DA had made it known that there was a possibility of victory in the
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...
province.
The ANC faced tough challenges from the opposition parties over issues of service delivery,
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
, healthcare reform,
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
and
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
rates.
The
Congress of the People (COPE) (a breakaway party formed from within the ANC) and the
Inkatha Freedom Party
The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded t ...
(IFP) were determined to prove that they could increase their control in areas as well. Various other parties were expected to contest the elections as well; however, based on previous elections and expected changes since then, they are expected to hold a minority power relative to the ANC, DA, Cope and IFP parties respectively.
The election was generally peaceful, with the exception of an attack on an IFP councilor that resulted in his death.
Cities
Former DA leader
Helen Zille
Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...
attempted to improve her party's success at multi-party governance in Cape Town and also bring the ANC's support under 50% in other major cities. Initial reports suggested that
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
was the most vulnerable for the ANC, with
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
,
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
Ekurhuleni
The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng. The municipality itself is a large suburban region east o ...
and almost all municipalities in the Northern Cape facing stiff challenges from the DA and COPE.
Port Elizabeth lies in a unique region roughly at the border between the Black and Coloured (i.e. mixed raced) population groups.
It was predicted that there would be a strong effort from minorities in the city to try to gain control of the council. Although the
Nelson Mandela Bay
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ( af, Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Nelson Mandela Bay or ''uMasipala waseBhayi'') is one of eight metropolitan municipalities (also called Category A municipalities) in So ...
municipality is over 60% black, the DA hoped that by using COPE and the
United Democratic Movement
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is a centre-left, social-democratic, South African political party, formed by a prominent former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer (who has since resigned from the UDM), a former African National Congress ...
, the vote for the ANC could have possibly been lowered under 50% (i.e. minority power) enabling the DA to form a coalition with smaller parties and assume governance of the area.
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality was heavily contested in the elections with the ANC managing to secure 63 seats to the DA's 48 seats. Zille attributed the failure of the DA to win the metro to the decline of COPE, claiming that the latter's retention of votes could have unseated the ANC allowing a coalition government in the metro.
Election boycott
The
Poor People's Alliance
The Poor People's Alliance is a network of radical grassroots movements in South Africa. It was formed in 2008 after the Action Alliance, formed in December 2006, was expanded to include two more organisations.
The following organisations are ...
called for a boycott of the election under the slogan
No Land! No House! No Vote!
No Land! No House! No Vote! is the name of a campaign by a number of poor people's movements in South Africa that calls for the boycotting of the vote and a general rejection of party politics and vote banking. The name is meant to imply that i ...
.
There were vote boycott campaigns by a number of civil society organisations including Soundz of the South, the
Mandela Park Backyarders
The Mandela Park Backyarders or just Backyarders is an unfunded Khayelitsha-based South African social movement made up of poor and marginalised residents of Mandela Park that is working for housing rights and against evictions.
The focus of the ...
, the Mitchell's Plain Backyarders Association and various communities such as
Blikkiesdorp
Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area in Delft, Cape Town, better known by its nickname Blikkiesdorp, is a relocation camp made-up of corrugated iron shacks. in Western Cape,
Morutsi in Limpopo,
King William's Town
Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...
and
Grahamstown
Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...
in the Eastern Cape,
Cato Ridge
Cato Ridge is a town in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality as a suburb of the Outer West region.
It is situated some 30 km south-east of ...
in KwaZulu-Natal,
Ermelo in Mpumalanga and elsewhere around the country.
There was also significant abstention by ANC members and supporters who felt the selection of ANC candidates was biased but refused to vote for any other party.
Election results
The statistics in this section are all sourced from the Independent Electoral Commission'sbr>official website
unless specified otherwise.
The
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
for this election was predicted to be higher than the previous
election in 2006. 23.65 million people were registered to vote (with more than five million people eligible to vote not being registered), while the actual turnout of voters was 13.66 million people representing a 57.64% turnout, making it the highest voter turnout ever since the first municipal election in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. The percentage of
spoilt vote
In voting, a ballot is considered spoilt, spoiled, void, null, informal, invalid or stray if a law declares or an election authority determines that it is invalid and thus not included in the vote count. This may occur accidentally or deliberat ...
s was 1.89%.
The ANC won just under 62% of the vote and the DA won just under 24% of the vote. There was a decline in ANC support and an increase in support for the DA as the ANC lost voters in every province with the exception of Kwa-ZuluNatal where it captured votes from former IFP voters.
'The swing's the thing' that shows the political trend
Alistair Sparks, ''Business Day'', 25 May 2011
, - style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Party
!colspan="2" style="text-align:center", Ward
!colspan="2" style="text-align:center", PR
!colspan="2" style="text-align:center", ''Ward + PR''
!colspan="2" style="text-align:center", DC
, - style="background:#e9e9e9;"
!Votes
!%
!Votes
!%
!''Votes''
!''%''
!Votes
!%
, -
, , , 8,143,397 , , 61.0% , , 8,405,429 , , 62.9% , , ''16,548,826 , , ''62.0% , , 5,455,411 , , 69.4%
, -
, , , 3,177,883 , , 23.8% , , 3,216,006 , , 24.1% , , ''6,393,886 , , ''23.9% , , 1,202,562 , , 15.3%
, -
, , , 478,400 , , 3.6% , , 475,621 , , 3.6% , , ''954,021 , , ''3.6% , , 406,319 , , 5.2%
, -
, , , 326,565 , , 2.4% , , 318,352 , , 2.4% , , ''644,917 , , ''2.4% , , 247,340 , , 3.1%
, -
, , , 274,074 , , 2.1% , , 296,624 , , 2.2% , , ''570,698 , , ''2.1% , , 236,396 , , 3.0%
, -
, , , 83,728 , , 0.6% , , 84,623 , , 0.6% , , ''168,351 , , ''0.6% , , 67,487 , , 0.9%
, -
, , , 86,865 , , 0.7% , , 78,737 , , 0.6% , , ''165,602 , , ''0.6% , , 43,948 , , 0.6%
, -
, , , 66,588 , , 0.5% , , 53,931 , , 0.4% , , ''120,519 , , ''0.5% , , 32,640 , , 0.4%
, -
, , , 63,976 , , 0.5% , , 54,846 , , 0.4% , , ''118,822 , , ''0.4% , , 28,918 , , 0.4%
, -
, , , 60,153 , , 0.5% , , 53,042 , , 0.4% , , 113,195'' , , ''0.4% , , 958 , , 0.0%
, -
, , , 38,159 , , 0.3% , , 54,332 , , 0.4% , , ''92,491 , , ''0.3% , , 22,650 , , 0.3%
, -
, , , 25,031 , , 0.2% , , 25,971 , , 0.2% , , ''51,002 , , ''0.2% , , 466 , , 0.0%
, -
, , , 24,331 , , 0.2% , , 26,300 , , 0.2% , , ''50,631 , , ''0.2% , , 19,202 , , 0.2%
, -
, colspan="2" style="text-align:left", ''108 other parties'' , , 202,595 , , 1.5% , , 213,697 , , 1.6% , , ''416,292 , , ''1.6% , , 93,512 , , 1.2%
, -
, , , 302,242 , , 2.3% , , colspan="2" style="text-align:center", N/A , , ''302,242 , , ''1.1% , , colspan="2" style="text-align:center", N/A
, - style="background:#e9e9e9;"
, colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Total , , colspan="2", 13,353,987 , , colspan="2", 13,357,511 , , colspan="2", ''26,711,498 , , colspan="2", 7,857,809
, -
, colspan="2" style="text-align:left", Spoilt vote
In voting, a ballot is considered spoilt, spoiled, void, null, informal, invalid or stray if a law declares or an election authority determines that it is invalid and thus not included in the vote count. This may occur accidentally or deliberat ...
s , , colspan="2", 235,014 , , colspan="2", 235,345 , , colspan="2", 470,359 , , colspan="2", 196,248
Note: "Ward" column indicates votes cast for individual ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
councillors. "PR" column indicates proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
votes cast for parties in the election of local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
and metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
municipal councils. "DC" column indicate proportional representation votes cast for parties for the directly elected components of district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
councils. All voters cast Ward and PR ballots, but those resident in the metropolitan municipalities (approximately 40% of the population) do not cast DC ballots.
Regional summary
Eastern Cape
In the Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
, the ANC captured a majority in all but one municipality; the lone exception, Baviaans, was won by the DA with four seats to the ANC's three. The Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was closely contested however, with the ANC dropping 15% of the vote, but retaining a narrow majority.
Free State
The ANC won a majority in every municipality in the Free State, including the newly upgraded Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality which governs Bloemfontein and surrounding towns in the Free State province of South Africa. Mangaung is a Sesotho name meaning "place of cheetahs", as it was not uncommon for the ...
, in which it won 65 of the 97 available seats, against the DA's 26.
Gauteng
The ANC won a majority in all but one of the municipalities in Gauteng, the lone exception being Midvaal, which was won by the DA. The following table shows the number of seats won by the various parties in the metropolitan and local municipalities in the province.
KwaZulu-Natal
In the following table, green rows indicate municipalities won by the ANC, red rows indicate those won by the Inkatha Freedom Party
The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded t ...
(IFP), yellow rows indicate those won by the National Freedom Party
The National Freedom Party (NFP) is a South African political party. It was launched on 25 January 2011 by Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, former chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), along with other former IFP members.
Election results
...
(NFP), and grey rows indicate those with no majority party.
Limpopo
The ANC's complete dominance of Limpopo remained unchallenged as other parties achieved only small minorities.
Mpumalanga
The ANC's control of this province was not significantly challenged with the DA only gaining some support in the more urbanised municipalities.
North West
The North West remains firmly under ANC control with the DA getting some support in the larger towns.
Northern Cape
The ANC's control in this province was challenged only in the thinly populated Afrikaans speaking Karoo areas adjoining the DA dominated Western Cape. The more densely populated and Tswana dominated northern districts remain firmly in the hands of the ANC.
Western Cape
The Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
swung heavily to the DA, which won outright the City of Cape Town
The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026.
The remo ...
metropolitan municipality, as well as 11 of the 24 local municipalities in the province. In a further four local municipalities the DA was the largest party but did not hold a majority of seats. The ANC won outright only the Beaufort West Local Municipality
Beaufort West Local Municipality ( af, Beaufort-Wes Plaaslike Munisipaliteit) is a municipality located in Western Cape Province, South Africa. the population is 49,586. Its municipality code is WC053.
Geography
The municipality covers an are ...
, and was the largest party in the Cederberg Local Municipality
Cederberg Local Municipality is a local municipality which governs an area of the Western Cape province of South Africa stretching from the Cederberg mountains through the middle valley of the Olifants River to the Atlantic coast. It includes t ...
but did not hold a majority there. Five local municipalities were evenly split between the ANC and the DA, with other parties holding the balance of power. In the Kannaland Local Municipality
Kannaland Municipality ( af, Kannaland Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality located within the Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The municipal area is situated in the western part of the Little Kar ...
, the Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa
The Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) is a minor South African political party. It was founded by former Karoo District Municipality manager Truman Prince, who was expelled from the African National Congress (ANC) in 2006. ...
won a plurality of three seats while the ANC and the DA won two each; a similar situation obtained in the Prince Albert Local Municipality
Prince Albert Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
History
At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Prince Albert Local Municipality formed part of the Central Karoo Regional Servi ...
, where the Karoo Gemeenskaps Party won three seats and the ANC and the DA two each.
In the following table, blue rows indicate municipalities won by the DA, green rows indicate those won by the ANC, and grey rows indicate those with no majority party.
References
External links
Independent Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:South African Municipal Election, 2011
2011 elections in South Africa
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
May 2011 events in Africa